A Memorable Bing Weekend and a Memorable Wave

The other weekend, when Bing Copeland and Matt Calvani visited was a particularly memorable one. I met Bing Copeland (see the pic below when he autographed my Dharma) and Matt Calvani (Bing's shaper and designer of the Dharma that I love so much).

This photo below of me and Matt at Saunton was taken by his wife Margaret. It was really nice to meet him and have a quick chat. Matt approved wholeheartedly of the K2.1 FCS fins that I've put on my Dharma - saying that they are the fins he recommends as possibly the best choice for this board. (Whew!) 

Trim Surfboards had set up at Saunton to show their Bing stock and let people have a go on some too. And what happened? There were waves! Unbelievable for a demo day in Devon!!! As I got there early I paddled out on my Dharma. Don't do it: there were about six longboarders party waving everything that came towards me. I caught two waves in about an hour.

It was fun in the water though. Mick Rodgers (Bing team rider) jumped from his board onto a stray board right in front of me and carried on surfing - the sort of jokey fun move I've only seen in the movies! Jamie Bott was paddling around photographing the shenannigans. Everyone was hooting and sharing waves - it seemed like a fun, crowded Malibu retro-vibe had been shipped in specially for the occasion.

After surfing my Dharma I fell in love with a Pig! (Not for the first time.) Trim Surfboards gave me this 9'7 to take out leashless into the shoulder high waves. I vowed to keep a good hold of it and paddled out. After unfamiliar longboardy kookiness (like headbutting the board when paddling out through a wave) I snagged a doozy! Walked back and forth like never before turning, trimming, turning, trimming like a real life longboarder. Pigs are fun. Every so often in surfing you get a 'memorable wave'. I've had a few: my first green wave, one on the Webber Afterburner I borrowed, one on the Gulf Stream Speed Dialler I borrowed for a dawny, a handful - and this was one of those rare ones that we all look for each time we go out. Something unexpected and new. Stoked!

After a book signing at Nineplus Braunton there was then the movie night in Croyde Village Hall organised by The Museum of British Surfing. Bing spoke a little about his background and then showed the movie "Boardroom" about the history of surfboard shaping in California. Greg Noll! He's got a character and imagination almost as large as he is himself!

Here's a pic of the autographing from Bing and Matt on my board:

And since they'd 'broken the seal' I went and scrawled all over it myself with Posca pens:

Probably now rendered it worthless! Ha! What a fun weekend though...